Dutch Union Dispute Could Be Bad News For Valentines

Gong Deyun, 99 years old, gives a bouquet of flowers to his wife, Sun Yucui, 102 years old, at their home in Rushan, Shandong province, China.

Liu Guoxian/Xinhua/Zuma Press

By Robin van Daalen

AMSTERDAM–With Valentine’s Day drawing near, there’s no love lost between management and labor at a big Dutch flower distributor–with a labor dispute creating a chance of problems for sweethearts hoping to give or get blooms next week.

The board of FloraHolland, the international market leader in flower sales, rejected an ultimatum set by unions demanding improved conditions for workers laid off in any restructuring.

“For the employees, enough is enough,” said Celil Coban, an official with the FNV Bondgenoten union. “In the night of Thursday to Friday there will be a strike that lasts 24 hours.”

FloraHolland runs wholesale auctions of flowers and plants, after which its workers deliver the flora to buyers for further distribution. It says 85% of its flowers are exported.

FloraHolland said it would take the necessary steps to continue operating, but it expects some delays. “We regret these actions and find them irresponsible,” it said in a statement.

The extent of the delays depends on how many workers join the strike, said Lex van Horssen, a spokesman at FloraHolland. In the week before Valentine’s Day, sales are about 1.5 times higher than its usual $108 million to $122 million, he said.

FloraHolland is a cooperative of about 5,000 members, with 600 from outside the Netherlands. It had $5.95 billion in sales and processed 12.5 billion plants and bunches of flowers in 2012.